In Rapid Succession
by Reenie Bleenie
Summary: A simple afternoon turns dark as events follow each other in rapid succession. Not what you think it'll be. Has some humor. Now with previous chapters revised and edited! New and improved! Less trans fats! I don't own Animaniacs.
1. Yakko

In Rapid Succession

Hi! This is my first story, so... Yeah, just though I'd say that. Um, lemme know about any problems or inaccuracies you might find. Enjoy!

**ATTENTION! THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED AND NO LONGER HAS SO MANY GRAMMAR MISTAKES! THANK YOU. **

...

It was Monday. In the Warner household, that meant Laundry Day. Laundry Day was when Yakko unloaded the dirty clothes basket, went through everyone's pockets, tried not to choke on Wakko's socks (How did they get so nasty, anyway? He never even _wore_ them) ran it all through the washer and dryer, folded it up nice and neat, and put it all back in the dresser while Wakko and Dot watched old _Buffy the Vampire Slayer _ reruns. Monday was also_ Buffy_ day. What a coincidence.

It wasn't that Yakko minded or anything. Okay, maybe a little, but not enough to complain about it. He just wished his sibs would pitch in once in awhile. Wakko should at least have to wash those repulsive socks of his himself. _Oh well, _he thought as he folded yet another load of little pink skirts and 'days of the week' underwear. _This isn't so bad. I could have to clean the bathroom instead. _He grimaced at the thought. That had thankfully become Wakko's job after the little room had gotten so bad that the only way to clean it was to flood the whole tower. Wakko, immune to all manner of toilet nastiness (unless you counted roaches, but they weren't a problem) had no issues with going in there wielding a scrub brush and tile disinfectant. Yakko wasn't quite up for the challenge.

He finished folding Dot's clothes and took the basket through the living room. "What's going on?" He called to the figures slumped on the couch.

"Buffy died." Dot replied. So she had. There she was on the screen lying on front of the rest of the sobbing cast.

"Again?" He asked. Buffy must have died, what, three times now? Ridiculous.

"Yup," said Wakko. "She kicked it for good this time, and now everyone's doing their best fake cry. How do they do that, anyway? Do they just think, 'my dog is dead' or something?" He screwed up his face and chanted, "My dog is dead. My dog is dead. My dog is dead." Looking up, Wakko blinked. "Wow, that worked. I got a few tears."

Yakko laughed and shook his head, then coughed a little as he shuffled into the bedroom with Dot's clothes. He groaned quietly as he tucked the _Friday, Saturday, Sunday_ panties into Dot's drawer. This little cough thing had been bothering him ever since he and his sibs had volunteered at a hospital a few days ago. _I had better not be getting sick,_ he thought. That would be, for one thing, inconvenient. They had a read-through tomorrow and a filming session on Friday. It was probably just a little bug though.

"Hmm," Yakko said aloud, glancing at the bunk beds. "Wouldn't hurt to change the sheets." Having finished putting away Dot's skirts, Yakko set the basket next to his own bunk on the bottom and quickly scaled the ladder to the top.

Yakko was just about to snap off Wakko's blankets when that annoying little cough returned and he wavered on the ladder. Gripping the edge of Wakko's bunk more firmly (It was a pretty long fall), he pulled the pastel blue blankets back to reveal… Garbage. Soda cans, cupcake and candy bar wrappers, old greasy pizza crusts and more sat before him in a little pile.

"Eeww. WAKKO!" He shouted in the direction of the door.

"WHAAT?" Came the reply.

"WHY IS THERE ALL THIS JUNK IN YER BED?"

"Um… I GOT HUNGRY." _Gee, what a surprise._

"YEAH, WELL I DON'T WANNA CLEAN UP ALLA THIS CRUD ON MY OWN. COULD YA COME GIMME A HAND?"

"ONE SEC. THEY'RE GONNA TRY AND BRING BUFFY BACK TO LIFE." _What?_

"Aw, come on. AGAIN?"

"YUP."

_Seriously, Joss Whedon needs to get a better plot device, and fast, _Yakko thought as he grimaced and picked up a greasy, half-eaten pizza slice and started down the ladder. Just then, there was a shout of annoyance from the living room and Dot came stomping in. "What's up, sis?" said Yakko with a smirk. She looked pretty cheesed off, but that didn't give him any less of a reason to tease a little.

"I just spilled soda all over my skirt. Look!" Dot gestured to a large brownish stain on the pink garment. "How can I be cute when it looks like someone _barfed_ on my lap? This stain'll never come out." Yakko stared at her incredulously. Hadn't he just put away every last one of her clean skirts? "But… I just did your laundry." He said. She glanced at him as she rummaged for a fresh skirt. "Yeah, I know."

"I _JUST_ did your laundry."

"And?" She said, tossing the stained skirt on the floor at his feet. Yakko twitched slightly as he bent to retrieve it. Didn't they notice he wasn't sitting there watching _Buffy_ for a reason? The way he and his sibs went through clean clothes, the only thing to be done was to wash them there in the tower. It wasn't like they were going to hire a nanny or something- look how well that worked out _last_ time, with that creepy Prunella chick that sung about poison oak and oatmeal. Didn't that headcase understand that life wasn't meant to be a musical?

Yakko sighed. "Nevermind. Just try not to soak that one, 'kay?" He shot the skirt into the hamper like a pro basketball player and started back up the ladder, not noticing that his gloves were wet from the soda, nor that the few topmost rungs were slick with pizza grease.

"Yakko, be careful." said Dot as she turned to leave.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "Hey, shove that trash can near the beds, will yAAAAAH!"

Yakko let out a cry of surprise as his foot flew right off one of the greasy top rungs and he careened backwards, his gloves slipping off the bed frame as well. Dot yelled his name and spun around.

"YAKKO!"

The little "Unh" noise he made when he hit the ground was drowned out by the THUMP of impact, and worst of all the loud CRACK he heard when his head hit the steel floor. Then, pain, unimaginable pain; It felt like someone had shot a nail gun into his skull. He heard Dot's knees meet the floor beside him, caught one last glimpse of her panicked face. Then everything went black.

...

Okay! Please review! Flames are okay, but please be gentle, first story and all. By the way, please try to be honest and helpful with you reviews, too. I mean, no offense, but "ZOMG LOL luv ur story update soon XD!" Doesn't really help me. And I know it's short, but the chapters will get progressively longer as the story goes on. Hope you liked it!

~Reenie


	2. Dot

A/N: Well! Here we are with my SECOND published chapter-YAY! I'm so happy! First of all, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers, especially Mikki Warner for all of your encouragement, Classicsrule for a well-rounded and helpful review, and Jamocha101 for all of your wonderful help and advice. Thank you to all my readers- you guys keep me going! So, now for the traditional grovel: PLEASE REVIEW! Now that that's over with, all of you who actually bothered to read this big long gigantic text block can get to what's important: THE STORY!

**SECOND A/N: This chapter has been revised and edited. You're reading the edited version. The first version has been buried and burned, not necessarily in that order. **

In Rapid Succession-Chapter 2

Dot was annoyed. Not only had Wakko stolen her soda, he belched loudly just in time to drown out one of her favorite Spike lines (He was sooo cute! She always went for a man with an accent). Then, when she tried to get the soda back, he refused to give it up and the resulting tug-of-war match ended in it spilling all over her skirt.

She stormed through the open door of the bedroom. Yakko was perched precariously halfway down the bunk bed ladder, a half-eaten piece of pizza held in his outstretched hand. It was dripping a little grease onto the rungs. "What's up, sis?" He quipped, leaping down and shooting the disgusting pizza remains a repulsed glance as a drop of grease landed on his khakis.

"I spilled soda all over my skirt. Look!" Dot growled as she indicated the brown stain the soda had made. It was a good skirt! "How can I be cute when it looks like someone _barfed_ on my lap? This stain'll never come out," she complained as she opened her drawer and pushed past the pile of panties with _Tuesday_ on top to a fresh skirt.

"But I just did your laundry," she heard him say from behind.

"Yeah, I know." Ah, here we go, an adorable little flamingo-pink number. Her brothers always insisted that all her skirts were the same color. _Boy_s; _go fig._ They were so oblivious when it came to clothes.

"I _JUST _did your laundry." Yakko repeated. She pulled down the garment and tossed it on the floor.

"And?" Replied Dot. She turned to face him as she pulled on the new skirt and caught him twitch slightly before he bent to pick it up, soda bleeding from the skirt into the fabric of his gloves.

Dot waited, realizing she might have been a little too nonchalant. She and Wakko were always careful to be appreciative of Yakko doing a lot of the housework; admittedly, though, they had been slipping as of late. Besides, she had thought she heard him coughing last night. If he was sick… However, he relaxed and said, "Never mind. Just try not to soak that one, 'kay?" Which meant that it was all right.

Balling up the skirt and shooting it into the hamper, Yakko started up the ladder again. Dot turned to leave. "Yakko, be careful." She called over her shoulder, partly to show a little affection after being, yes, a little bit of a jerk, and partly because it was just a brother-sister thing. She knew he'd be fine, but she said it anyway. Dot caught him smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, shove that trash can near the beds, will yAAAAH!"

Hearing Yakko cry out, Dot whirled around just in time to see him tip backwards and fall off the ladder.

"YAKKO!" Dot shrieked, and dived forward to… To what? Catch him? He would crush her, and anyway it was already too late. Seeming to Dot as if he were moving in slow motion, Yakko reached the ground and hit with a THUMP. Even worse was the sickening CRACK Dot heard when his head collided with the floor. Dot reached him a second after that. She sat there on her knees for a minute, heart pounding, breathing heavily, thoughts coursing through her head. _ Oh my God. What was that cracking noise? Did he break something? Did he break his SKULL? Can you do that? I don't see any brains. I would see brains if he broke his skull, right? Gross. Oh, God, what if he has amnesia? What if he's __DEAD?_

Dot took a deep, steadying breath that had none of the desired affect. Actually it was just hyperventilating, but that wasn't really the point. Yakko, on the floor, not moving; that was the point. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him, trying to wake him up, realizing in the back of her mind how stupid that was but disregarding reason completely for the moment. Her voice was small and scared when she spoke.

"Yakko? Yakko. C'mon, listen, it's Dot. It's Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo-Boo-"Bo-_Besca, _she finished silently. She always messed up that part. Yakko could do it right. He still wasn't moving. Dot half expected him to correct her, like always, him being the one who taught her to say it right. She pulled him numbly into a hug, and realized that he was breathing. That brought her back a little bit. He was alive. He was... Not okay, but alive. Alive, she could work with. But she needed help.

Suddenly, she almost laughed. Dot had TWO brothers. Why hadn't she called Wakko sooner? He was just in the living room. She filled her lungs again.

"_**WAKKO!"**_

"COMIN'!" _He's coming. He'll help. _Dot was happy to have _two _brothers at that moment instead of a sister, like she had always said. A sister would probably have passed out, knowing her luck, and then DOT would have had to figure out what to do. Usually she loved being in control of a situation, but right now she would happily pass the reigns onto someone else- and here Wakko was at the door now.

Wakko appeared, tongue hanging out at the edge of a trademark goofy smile. "You hollered?" His face fell almost comically when he saw the two of them on the floor. "What _happened_?" Dot looked up at him, tears beginning to swim in her eyes. "Yakko fell off the ladder!" She burst out. "He hit his head on the floor and he's unconscious and he's bleeding and… Wakko, what do we do?"

Wakko had already knelt down and taken Yakko's hand. "Uh," he said, staring at Yakko, eyes wide and shocked, for a full 30 seconds before snapping out of it. " Well… Um, did you s-"

"Unhhh… D-dot, Whahappn?"

Dot gasped, almost sobbing with a tidal wave of relief. No coma, no amnesia. Yakko had said her name, so he must remember. Even as Dot gazed down at him, he opened his eyes and blinked; then his hand shot up to block the light. "Gah. Bright." Dot felt like squeezing his guts out in a bear hug, but also wanted to treat him like fine china-lovingly and very, _very _carefully.

"Don't sit u-" Dot started, but Yakko had already raised himself onto his elbows. "Never mind," supplied Wakko with a half-smile. He looked hugely relieved too. "How are you?"

"Me?" Yakko asked, giggling. Dot looked at Wakko- he seemed as weirded out as she felt. This wasn't a characteristic giggle, this was an airhead girl, "OMG-I-can't-believe-he-asked-me-out" giggle. "Me?" Yakko continued. "Fine. Peachy. Peaches and gravy." He giggled again, reminding Dot uncannily of herself. "Peaches and gravy. Where does that expression even come from? I mean, the two foods don't exactly go. If you put gravy on peaches, I mean, guh-ross!" He made a face, still acting a little too… Off, in Dot's opinion. He was rambling, and not in the normal, Yakko-like way.

"Yakko…" Wakko seemed to notice it too, laying a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Wha? I'm great. I'm as happy as a little girl!" _Again with the giggling,_ Dot though_. _She and Wakko exchanged worried glances. Suddenly, Yakko turned thoughtful. "I think I'm going to throw up, though," he added casually, like a comment about the weather.

"What?" The other two said in unison. Their brother answered by leaning over and vomiting into Dot's lap. She could almost taste the irony.

…

A/N: WOO! So, like I said, review and let me know how it's coming! By the way, if you found that last comment about text talk reviews in my last chapter's A/N offensive, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it, I'm just a little control-freaky sometimes. I like reviews in any format-just keep 'em coming and I'll crank out the chapters! Thanks again to all my wonderful readers!


	3. Wakko

A/N: Hello everybody! I know, I haven't posted a chapter in several centuries, but that's because I've been very busy with school and then summer and my BRAND NEW HARRY POTTER STORY, which sadly only one person has reviewed so far, so if you like Harry Potter go ahead and check it out. My _awesome _beta reader especially enjoyed it, so you won't be disappointed. :) Also, I've been helping out the Bone archive, which only has about five stories, so if you like that comic, take a look. Anyway, this chapter is FINALLY up sooo… enjoy!

Wakko was in the kitchen, eating; this was, of course, predictable. You were most likely to find Yakko in the living room breaking something with his ping-pong paddle, Dot in the bathroom "cuti-fying" herself, and Wakko in the kitchen trying to eat the blender or something (That was, if they weren't together, which they usually were). It was his thing; it was how he rolled, he thought happily as he shoved an entire box of donuts into his mouth.

Suddenly, Wakko heard Dot shriek from the other room. "WAKKO!" He sighed. Wakko finished chewing, and padded out of the kitchen into the living room. She wasn't there. _Must be in the bedroom,_ he thought. _Wonder what she wants?_

"COMIN'!" He bellowed.

Wakko thought he had heard a "THUMP," maybe a yell, too, but he had changed the TV from Buffy to the Explosion Channel earlier, because of commercials. It was pretty difficult to hear with that on. Come to think of it, he wasn't quite sure why he had picked that particular channel to change to. Maybe they were hanging around with Slappy too much. Punching the "power" button, Wakko meandered across the room. The symphony of explosions was cut off. He didn't glance at the screen; after all, cool guys don't look at explosions.

Wakko reached the bedroom door and leaned against the frame, smiling. "You hollered?"

Then he registered the scene. Dot was kneeling on the bedroom floor with Yakko's head in her lap, who seemed to be dead _… NO. NOT dead. Unconscious, _Wakko corrected himself. Because Yakko simply could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be dead. That was impossible. The notion was insane.

"What _happened_?" Wakko asked, joining Dot on the floor. Her eyes filled with worried tears, and she looked up at him like a lost puppy. "Yakko fell off the ladder! He hit his head on the floor and he's unconscious and I think he's bleeding and… Wakko, what do we do?" She sounded panicky, which was more than understandable. Some people forgot that Dot was only five. Wakko took Yakko's hand, because it seemed like the thing to do.

"Uh…" He stared at Yakko, at his big brother, at the one person he had always thought indestructible. Yakko wasn't supposed to get hurt- he was supposed to help those who did. It just wasn't right. The universe was off-kilter today.

Wakko mentally shook himself. Yakko was down, so that meant he was in charge; he was the leader, the responsible one. Dot needed him-Yakko needed him. So what were you supposed to do when someone hit his or her head?

"Well…Um, did you s-" The hand in Wakko's twitched.

"Unhhh… D-Dot, whahappn?" Yakko stirred again, prompting a mixture of relief and worry from Wakko as he and his sister let out twin breaths they hadn't been fully aware of holding. Yakko slowly blinked and shook his head, dazed. His other hand went up in front of his face to dim the light.

"Gah. Bright," Yakko muttered. Dot began to caution him.

"Don't sit u-" Too late- he had already pushed himself up. Wakko chuckled to himself, allowing a half-smile to creep onto his face at the sight of Yakko simply being Yakko.

"Never mind," said Wakko. "How are you?" He asked even though it was a fairly stupid question. Then again, Yakko always said: "_There are no stupid questions-just a bunch of inquisitive idiots."_

"Me?" Yakko giggled. He _giggled. _Not laughed, not chuckled, _giggled_ like a 15-year old schoolgirl. Or like Dot. Wakko supposed that must be creeping her out. He glanced up, and her face confirmed it- In fact, she wore a "what-the-gratuitous-amount-of-cuss-words?" expression to mirror his.

"Me? Fine. Peachy. Peaches and gravy." Yakko continued, sounding in Wakko's opinion like he had the time Hello Nurse had given him some rather strong allergy medicine and it had knocked him loopy for a couple of hours.

"Peaches and gravy," he repeated. "Ha ha, where does that expression that even come from? If you put gravy on peaches, I mean, guh-ross!" He pulled a gookie Wakko would have been proud of if he wasn't so on edge. This wasn't the usual kind of chatter Yakko spat out on a regular basis. Something was wrong.

"Yakko…" Wakko tried cautiously, not sure how to approach.

"Wha? I'm great! I'm as happy as a little girl!" Yakko trilled. Wakko threw another look across at Dot, and she responded with a glance saying, 'This is really starting to freak me out.'

"I think I'm going to throw up, though, " Yakko added conversationally. It took Wakko a few seconds to process what he had said.

"What?" He asked at the exact same time as Dot. Yakko made a disgusting gagging noise and upchucked into Dot's lap.

"EEEEWWWW!" She screeched, shaking her hands helplessly, at a loss of what to do. Wakko leaned over and grabbed the nearby trashcan, shoving it in front of Yakko just in time. Wakko grimaced as he leaned over the can and heaved again. Not being able to remember having ever thrown up himself, Wakko had no idea what it was like, but judging by the noises Yakko was currently making, it seemed less than enjoyable.

Wakko scooted over next to Yakko, not knowing exactly what he was supposed to do. He had seen Hello Nurse dealing with this sort of thing before by rubbing circles on a patient's back. He began doing the same thing, tracing soft, comforting circles between his brother's shoulder blades. He remembered Yakko doing this to him as well, when they were both much younger, to help him fall asleep. It seemed to help now.

After a moment, Yakko stopped convulsing and started coughing. Wakko continued rubbing, mainly because Yakko hadn't stopped him yet. In another minute, the coughing had subsided as well. Dot appeared on Yakko's other side. Wakko looked up at her. She had abandoned her nasty, barfed-on skirt on the floor and was standing there in nothing but her frilly white panties, holding out a box of tissues.

Wakko squeezed Yakko's shoulder lightly and he sat up. Dot pulled out a couple of tissues and offered them to her eldest brother. He took them and wiped his mouth off, then balled them up into a wad and tossed it halfheartedly at the now well-used trashcan. The wad missed, and Dot picked it up with a disgusted face and dropped it in.

"Okay," said Yakko quietly and rather hoarsely. "That wasn't fun." He closed his eyes and put a shaky hand up to his head.

"Feel any better?" Dot asked, kneeling next to her brothers.

"No." Yakko replied flatly, not moving.

"Do you want some water? And you should probably lay down," she continued tentatively, gesturing to the bottom bunk, which was conveniently Yakko's.

"Y-Yeah," he replied, nodding, then wincing slightly.

"You do that, Dot, " Wakko said, standing up. "I'll go and get, uh… Dr. Scratchansniff. Hello Nurse. Someone. Anyone." Dot nodded.

"Okay, good idea; go ahead. Um…" Both she and Wakko were searching for something to say to make the parting less cold, awkward and abrupt.

"I love you." Yakko murmured. He had opened his eyes and was looking at Wakko like only his big brother could. Dot nodded, looking close to tears again suddenly. She took a deep breath and smiled.

"Yeah. I love you."

Wakko gave her a trademark goofy smile to lighten the mood. They _were _the Animaniacs, after all; no one was used to this much drama. "Love ya too." Then he turned and headed for the door. He pulled a paper clip out of his pocket and inserted it into the lock. All three Warners had learned to pick locks from the very best: The Brain himself. Before long the paper clip was twisted beyond further use, but at the same moment the lock clicked and the door sprang ajar.

He slid down a support beam, dropped to the ground, and tore across the courtyard towards the main buildings. Ralph spotted him and hurried out in front of him, hoisting his pants and blowing his whistle like a crazy person. When Wakko easily sidestepped him, he shouted something in protest that sounded like "Dahrrr, derr duuuuhhh!"

"No time, Fatso! This is urgent!" He yelled as he flew past. _Real urgent, _he thought as the main buildings grew closer and closer.

_My brother is in trouble._

-:-

A/N: Okay, I hope you enjoyed chapter three, and chapter four is also on its way. This time I won't wait months and months before updating… I swear! If anyone actually got the "cool guys don't look at explosions" SNL reference, tell me. I just couldn't resist putting that in. :P Don't forget to review! Thanks for reading!

~Reenie


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